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Gergiev Festival / Rotterdam Oct 2004


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This year's Rotterdam Gergiev Festival will be dedicated to Tchaikosvky, with the Kirov Orchestra and the Rotterdam Philharmonic.

There will be two shows with dancers from the Mariinsky, both featuring Serenade and Apollo. Since these shows are on consecutive nights I was wondering whether they will feature the exact same cast, and so I called the Rotterdam organisation. Naturally they had no idea.

The other weird thing is these performances will take place in the regular concert hall (the Doelen). It doth not have a pit, which I why I asked where the orchestra will be.

"On the stage".

So I asked where the dancers would be.

"Oh they are in the auditorium".

I see.

So where's the audience going to be seated?

"Around the the dancing."

I have a feeling some things have not been quite thought out yet - which is not un-gergievesque.

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It sounds like a very exciting evening, Herman! Perhaps the audience will be invited to join in and substitute for any errant corps de ballet members who may have gone a-roving.

Do keep us posted, and will you let us know if the Maryinsky happens to find its way to Rotterdam, or ends up somehow performing in a tulip field on the way there.

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It sounds like a very exciting evening, Herman!  Perhaps the audience will be invited to join in and substitute for any errant corps de ballet members who may have gone a-roving.

In that case I might prefer to knock over Apollo when he's still a kid, and have my way with the muses.

(BTW I ran into Ruta Jezerskyte the other day, together with her two lanky sisters, and told her how I and 'a dance writer from the US' had liked her Titania - hope that's allright with you.)

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Well, on second thoughts, the dancers used the orchestra stage, and the Mariinsky string band and Gergiev ipse sat where the first rows of the auditorium would normally be.

So that left only three problems. The Rotterdam Doelen concerthall seats a tiny part of the audience way up behind the stage, for people who either have no money or want to watch the conductor. Last night they could watch the back of the dancers' heads. Second. There were no proper wings. Just two openings at each side covered with black curtains. in Serenade this made for some pretty lacklustre exits and entrances. Third: the stage, not being a dance stage, was really a musical instrument. With four dancers in Apollo this was not a big problem. But in Serenade the patting point shoes sometimes overwhelmed the music.

So how about the dancing? Apollo was terrific. Mikhail Lobukhin was a powerful lead, and the three muses, Daria Pavlenko, Sofia Gumerova and Irina Golub were more pixielike than I've ever seen Apollo's muses. I liked that. I would love to see these dancers perform this piece again in better circumstances.

Oh, I forgot problem nr 4. No curtain. So when they'd gone up the staircase, the lights went out, and there they were, having to clamber down without breaking a leg and take the applause.

So while this was a very good Apollo, I can't help but thinking Serenade lacked both humor and passion. To a large extent it was just dancers doing stuff, doing it admirably, but not in a way that I'll ever remember.

I am going to call the Balanchine Police today, and tell 'em the Mariinsky performed Serenade without the brilliantly blue backdrop. It's just not the same. This piece is supposed to take place in some kind of eternal timeless moment. I know Mr B called it "Russian blue" - my association is the unchanging Southern California sky. It doesn't matter. Black just won;t do.

A last thing: there was no proper handout identifying the dancers and their parts. The names I mentioned for Apollo are educated guesswork based partly on the list of names in the glossy week program which obviously printed at least six weeks ago, before anybody had a clue who would hop on board the Rotterdam flight. I did notice director Vaziev pacing the hall, but I guess he's just too busy helping his dancers to mind these details (in fact Vaziev was listed as a dancer in the book).

Oh, I should add, the orchestral accompaniment was marvelous. There was only one moment when Gergiev stretched out the swoon in Serenade's finale too long, but generally the music was a delight.

So, Marc, you were a man of your word and did not go near this festival?

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Thanks for your vivid review, Herman! While we await Marc's answer to your question, I'll mention that Apollo's muses could surely not have included Chenchikova (Olga...Vasiyev's wife & former ballerina), as she retired from the stage about 10 years ago. Perhaps you were thinking of Zhelonkina (Irina)?

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Yes, Natalia, thank you! You're quite right. Looking at the photos I guess Irina Zhelonkina was Calliope, last night.

I talked about the whole thing this afternoon with some friends, and the general feeling was wonderful dancers like this should not have to perform under these crazy circumstances (unless the pay is enormous and taxfree).

On the other hand I am happy I have seen this performance, with this delightful contrast between big-guy Apollo and the Muses who treat him like just another cute little kid. "Oh baby, you wanna lead us?"

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Thanks for the corrections. I hope you don't mind I edited these "into" my post, not to appear smarter than I am, but to avoid incorrect information spreading.

One thing that struck me, thinking about this night, is that in both cases (after Apollo and after Serenade the dancers generously applauded these orchestra, perhaps to have something to do while they were standing there on that stupid curtainless stage.

And I'm going to contact the people who organize this festival. So they had the bad luck the regular theatre was under reconstruction this year, however, this carelessness about the information about the performers was the same as last year, and I think it really takes away from your pleasure if you're thinking all the time "now, who isthis dancer; what's his name?" I don't want to invoke the dread Respect-word, but that's what it really is about, first towards the performers, but also towards the audience.

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For the record, "Serenade" was danced by Natalia Sologub, Ekaterina Osmolkina, Ksenia Ostreikovskaya and Danila Korsuntsev.

I couldn't agree with you more, Herman, about the casting info etc, yet we should keep in mind that the Mariinsky itself is notoriously careless about these matters and tour organizers are often at loss. And it is the "Gergiev" Festival after all.

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